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One of the first things any amateur poker player needs to learn before playing cash games is a good poker bankroll management strategy.
Many beginners think playing to win will suffice, but the truth is that even with an excellent playing strategy losing streaks happen and not being prepared to protect your poker bankroll can mean losing all of it.
Basic Poker Bankroll Management: There are several different practices you can follow that will help you to protect your poker bankroll.
Few of them constitute a strategy in themselves, but when used together and consistently they can help any player to effectively and safely manage their poker bankroll.
Remember that even professional players manage their bankroll. In fact, professionals especially protect their poker bankrolls as they represent their actual earnings.
First, you must separate your poker bankroll from the rest of your assets. Your personal bank account should NOT be considered your bankroll.
The idea of a poker bankroll after all is establishing how much money you can afford to play with. Open a separate account for your bankroll and track all deposits and withdrawals as well as all actual wins and losses.
In time, you may be winning enough to deposit some of your earnings into other accounts, but it should never be the other way around with you constantly subsidizing your bankroll with the money you need for other things.
If you are losing money that fast, then you need to take another look at your poker playing strategy.
An important part of maintaining a healthy bankroll is budgeting. Many amateur players have a hard time knowing when to leave a table.
By using poker bankroll management to set a limit every time you sit at the table, you ensure that you never lose more than you can afford to, and also protect yourself from possible tilt.
Furthermore, knowing how much you have to play with from the start can help you to develop a safer and more consistent betting strategy, which will ultimately pay off in the end.
Another important aspect of poker bankroll management is establishing your first bankroll.
While this obviously will have to come from that taboo personal account mentioned earlier, it should be the first and last time you borrow money from your private funds to build a poker bankroll, and this action is only necessitated by your need to have a bankroll large enough to see you through losing streaks.
Poker experts recommend starting with a bankroll that is a full three hundred times larger than the maximum bet at the tables you intend to play.
To beginners this may sound like a lot, but in truth if you expect to sustain your early play through several sessions then you should have no less.
After all, you’re going to have more losses than wins early in your poker career and the best way to weather the storm is by coming prepared with a poker bankroll sizable enough to sustain ongoing play.
Finally, a poker bankroll management tip that applies to the entire game: keep your cool. Learning how to handle pressure and stress will affect how well you also handle your money.
Players susceptible to anxiety are far more likely to go on tilt and players on tilt are far more likely to blow their money. If you feel yourself losing control, then it’s time to go, even if you haven’t yet hit your budget.
Ways to Maximize Your Poker Bankroll: An easy way to make the most of your bankroll is to play online first. Live play has never and will never offer the promotions and benefits that online poker rooms do to attract new players.
In many cases you can practically get a free poker bankroll by utilizing sign-on and referral bonuses.
The great thing about these bonuses is that they are ongoing; many of these sites like Poker Stars or Full Tilt offer VIP programs for existing members too, which mean that even when you lose you are gaining points that can ultimately contribute to your poker bankroll.
If you prefer live play and have the skills to compete with more advanced players, tournaments are another way to get a lot of play out of a smaller poker bankroll.
Everyone pays the same small buy-in, which means from the beginning no one has a stack advantage on you.
If you can hold your own in a poker tournament, then they’re a great way not only to use your poker bankroll to its full advantage but to grow it.
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